Transformed into the leader of an esoteric sect in Japan

"Clad in the Sunfire can only temporarily distort light and create some visual disguise for us. To truly enter the Hidden Realm and prevent even third- or fourth-tier beings from observing our presence, we must temporarily merge into the Black Matter," Asakura whispered in Kurosawa Shizuki's ear.

"Integrate into the black matter? How can that be done?" Seeing the insectoids closing in on them from all sides, even though they couldn't see them and posed little threat to the fourth-tier beings, a prolonged battle with them would make it difficult for Asakura and Kurosawa Shizuki to carry out their mission of destroying the forest territory. If it were possible, Kurosawa Shizuki certainly didn't want to engage in conflict with these deformed monsters right now.

Unable to find Kurosawa Shizuki and Asakura Yuki, the monsters once again began a brutal infighting under the red mist, like worms trapped in the same cage.

Humans tore off their dignified facades, revealing their true beastly nature, and threw themselves into the savage struggles most prevalent in primitive times. If such slaughter was the "transformation" that the people of the Age of Gods sought, then Kurosawa Shizuki could only admit that they were utterly insane, completely beyond the comprehension of any common sense.

The flesh-colored monsters, whose limbs had sprouted blade-like arms, clashed together, tearing each other apart with their sharp scythes.

The couple who were just moments ago reluctant to part are now torn apart, dancing a bloody dance.

The flesh intertwined with flesh, then decayed and disintegrated, turning into clumps of flesh that were completely unrecognizable as human.

At the very center, a strange creature, formed from the fusion of male and female dancers, hovered in mid-air, its body shrouded in a divine purple glow like stars. Eight pairs of gauze wings sprouted from its back, and its face held a compassionate expression that seemed divine, like a fallen angel descended to earth. It exuded no evil aura. It continued to dance gracefully, its hands and feet striking strange rhythms. However, whenever an insectoid entered its attack range, its body would instantly explode into a bloody mist within those eerie rhythms, which would be greedily inhaled into the mouth and nose of the humanoid creature with four pairs of gauze wings.

The other creatures were completely unaware that the winged beings were indiscriminately annihilating and devouring them, and continued to slaughter each other without a care. They had completely lost all reason, and their consciousness was filled only with pure killing and madness.

No insectoid could withstand even a single round against that winged creature. Clearly, all the mortals in the club who underwent metamorphosis were, from the very beginning, nourishment for that winged creature to undergo a higher level of metamorphosis.

As the devouring continued, Kurosawa Shizuki noticed that the winged creature's black scales were becoming increasingly fine and exquisite, its body increasingly elegant and slender, and the light in its eyes was becoming increasingly intense and brilliant. It was rapidly approaching the fourth rank from the third rank at an incredible speed.

The winged creatures are getting closer and closer to the "Zandgir" described by Takasaki Ryo. Even though the molting club is filled with such brutal and insane slaughter, the winged creatures still give people a sense of tranquility and holiness, and the piety of martyrs.

"Quick, grab my hand. Let me guide you to perceive the Dark Matter. For us, as fourth-order Sun Apostles, this is almost instinctive, because our bodies have long since undergone a complete transformation by the Dark Matter. The Dark Matter is an extension of our bodies, and at the same time, our bodies have become part of the Dark Matter." Asakura grabbed Kurosawa Shizuki's hand. Her palm was soft and warm, yet it carried a thrilling temperature, as if her body truly contained an endless supply of sunlight.

Strange fluctuations emanated from Asakura's body, as if a switch had been turned on, resonating with Kurosawa Shizuki's body.

Kurosawa Shizuki felt the mud-like black substance crawling along Asakura's hand and all over her body, but she did not feel any fear or disgust. On the contrary, she felt very happy and comfortable all over, as if she had returned to her mother's swaddling clothes.

Kurosawa Shizuki's body began to transform into another form on its own, as if she had done this countless times before, without any hindrance.

Kurosawa Shizuki was shocked to discover that as the black matter eroded her and Asakura's entire bodies, their bodies no longer displayed the physical form of ordinary people. Unbeknownst to them, their bodies had also transformed into a black matter form similar to that of shadow servants. Kurosawa Shizuki found this very strange, because she now looked almost exactly like the shadow girl she had seen not long ago.

Meanwhile, the elegant yet sinister winged creature had grown to nearly five meters tall. Almost half of the insectoids in the club's ballroom had been effortlessly crushed and devoured by it with thunderous rhythms. Now, its entire body was surrounded by a dreamlike purple light. As it walked, it emitted a strange trembling sound, like the mournful weeping of a woman, which sent chills down people's spines, yet also carried a terrifying beauty.

Its body combines the strength of a man with the grace of a woman. It has a pair of breasts, but its lower body also has male genitalia. The boundaries of gender are completely blurred in this winged creature. It is a conceptual creature born from the fusion of man and woman. Now, a crown-like bony structure has grown on its head, and the color of its body is becoming more and more bright and pure. Layers of disgusting black skin are constantly peeling off its body and falling to the ground.

Even though the current situation is quite unstable and could collapse again at any time, Kurosawa Shizuki is certain that it now has the strength of the fourth tier. If they do not avoid it, encountering winged creatures will definitely lead to a very troublesome bloody battle.

However, Kurosawa Shizuki and Asakura Yuki, who had completely transformed into their black forms, sank into the shadows beneath them without any hindrance, along with the princess's robes. It all happened so naturally, as easily as breathing or drinking water. It was the first time Kurosawa Shizuki had ever been in the shadows, and the feeling was quite peculiar. It was like sinking into a black lake and looking up at the world above the surface from below, with everything presented from a completely new perspective.

It was as hazy as looking at flowers through the fog, yet every detail of reality was vividly clear. Kurosawa Shizuki could even see the strange patterns on every scale of the winged creature. From another perspective, every detail was presented in great detail. It was as if Kurosawa Shizuki was observing the enemy from countless angles at the same time.

Within the dark, shadowy lake, turning her head, Kurosawa Shizuki saw Asakura Yuki, who was floating in the shadowy swamp with her, not far away. She put a finger to her lips and revealed a mischievous smile.

Kurosawa Shizuki looked down and saw deeper beneath her, where huge clumps of black matter twisted and deformed. It seemed to be almost all the black matter that she and Asakura could mobilize in the molting club. Kurosawa Shizuki could also see the figures of shadow servants appearing and disappearing in the black matter below. There were figures belonging to Kurosawa Shizuki, Nakamura and Takasaki Ryo, as well as Asakura Yuki's shadow servants—more than a dozen slender white female figures.

So the Dark Matter and Shadow Servants were hiding in this area?

From the back of Asakura's head, a thin line formed from black matter slowly extended, connecting to the back of Kurosawa Shizuki's head. Kurosawa Shizuki did not resist Asakura's black matter, because she did not sense any malice on it.

As the connection was established, Asakura's voice rang in her ears:

“In the shadow realm where dark matter resides, sound cannot travel, so we communicate by connecting our thoughts through the fluctuations of dark matter. If you want to reply to me, you only need to think of the corresponding words in your mind and transmit them to me through dark matter.”

"It's amazing, like an experience of diving, but without feeling any suffocation. I even have the strange feeling that I was born to be here." Kurosawa Shizuki's thoughts moved and her reply was almost simultaneously transmitted to Asakura. Conversations in the shadow realm were actually smoother than in reality because the speed of thought was much faster than language.

"After each Black Sun Cult superhuman of the fourth rank or above falls, if we do not sink into the Shadow Realm and transform into another life form to eke out a living, we will ascend to the Nether Realm and become permanent servants of the Black Sun—a member of the Black Mirror Legion... But that's a story for later. Now that we have successfully infiltrated the Shadow Realm, we can begin our next move."

In the real world above, the towering winged creature had devoured all the insectoids in the entire hall. Now it resembled a deep purple holy statue, its body shimmering with wondrous brilliance. Somewhat confused, it wandered back and forth near the area where Kurosawa Shizuki and Asakura had disappeared. It was clearly certain that two prey had escaped its pursuit and gone into hiding, but no matter what it did, it could not reach the realm of shadows to drag out Kurosawa Shizuki and Asakura, who had begun to lurk.

"Since we can infiltrate the Shadow's domain like this, why don't we just go straight into the Shadow and start infiltrating the Shedding Club from the beginning?" With such a convenient infiltration method, Kurosawa Shizuki suddenly felt that all their previous elaborate preparations and invitations seemed to have been completely useless.

"How could such a thing be possible? The Shedding Club of the Divine Society is a secret religious site that has been managed by the Flesh-Shedding Ones for countless years. Its realm is completely isolated from the outside world in concept. Even the Shadow Realm is completely cut off from the outside world. As extraordinary beings who have mastered the power of black matter, we must also obtain the invitation and recognition of the Shedding Club in order to have a chance to enter the Shadow Realm within the club. If we try to forcibly infiltrate the Shadow Realm from the outside, it will only immediately alert the high-level enemies of the Shedding Club."

P.S., thanks to Lord of Broken Shore for the four salted fish thrusts.

PS2, sigh, after thinking about it, I decided not to open the golden treasure chest. I don't have enough words right now, and opening it won't increase my subscriptions much. I feel like I'd lose money if I did. I'll wait until I have 500,000 words before I do it.

Chapter 98 The Way of the Serpent, the Woodland Gate Opens!

Hidden within the shadow realm, Kurosawa Shizuki and Asakura Yuki looked up at the giant winged creature above them that had devoured all the food in the entire hall. It seemed quite puzzled as to why it couldn't find the two girls no matter what it did. After a long search, it finally gave up the chase and simply hovered quietly in mid-air, hugging its knees like an infant, waiting for something.

Kurosawa Shizuki and Asakura, however, both heard a strange heartbeat in the Shadow Realm. Thump, thump, like thunder, or like drumming. Waves of visible fluctuations spread through the swamp-like Shadow Realm, which began to become chaotic and was being disturbed by something of unknown origin.

Asakura grabbed Kurosawa Shizuki's hand, signaling her to prepare to start following them.

"The manipulator has already opened the portal through the Path of the Serpent. The territory of the Blackwood is expanding and merging with reality. We'd better seize the opportunity, as it may only last a moment," Asakura signaled to Kurosawa Shizuki.

Even within the Shadow Realm, Kurosawa Shizuki could indeed sense that something strange and enormous was spreading. She could smell a faint, decaying aura that seemed familiar, just like when she met Yamauchi Yuki in her dream. However, this time, Kurosawa Shizuki felt that she was closer to that vast, unfamiliar world than ever before.

Kurosawa Shizuki saw invisible things wriggling in the air like snakes, then gathering together. A gloomy, damp wind blew in from somewhere, and even in the shadow realm, one could sense the decaying aura.

The world of Wuquanzi slowly unfolds beneath their feet.

As some mechanism activated, the tall bronze statue of a dancer in the very center of the molting club began to rotate on its own, reflecting a dreamlike light in the purple smoke and dust, as if it truly possessed its own life and was dancing an incredibly eerie dance.

The mechanism of the bronze statue rotated and moved away, revealing the ground beneath it. It looked as if countless formless snakes were gnawing at the soil. Then the land collapsed, revealing a bottomless chasm. Green moss hung from the edges of the cave walls, and a stench wafted out. Dense shadows spread rapidly from within the molting club.

Under the astonished gaze of Kurosawa Shizuki, Kirie's domain covered the entire Shedding Club in just a few breaths. Black, rotten soil polluted the entire world, and then withered, decaying trees rose from the ground without warning. Dirty moss and vines grew rampantly. Time seemed to be flowing at breakneck speed, and everything was weathering, deforming, and becoming alien at a speed visible to the naked eye.

One moment it was a luxurious and upscale dance club, the next it had become a primeval dark forest, lost in a vast and suffocating crimson mist.

From the cave beneath the dancer sculpture, the ethereal, distant humming of some creature drifted out. Those who heard it were involuntarily infected by the rich sorrow contained in the humming. The winged creature suspended in the air also froze in the humming. Facing the direction of the cave, it flapped its wings and flew away impatiently, as if staying in reality for even a second longer would be unbearable for it.

Summoned by an inexplicable force, the winged creature plunged headlong into the deep pit without hesitation. As it entered, the expansive woodland area began to shrink rapidly, and the dancer sculpture began to rotate again to seal the entrance. The bizarre scene unfolded once more within the Shedding Club, as if time had reversed and everything was returning to its original state. The countless guests who had transformed into insectoid creatures and were killing each other, the hellish arena filled with blood and flesh, and the beautiful yet eerie winged creatures all seemed to have never existed.

"Now!" Asakura gave the order, and the scorching heat behind her transformed into countless tentacles, dragging her body rapidly toward their destination within the shadow domain. The entrance to the forest was about to close, and the invisible serpents that formed the cave entrance were about to dissipate. Kurosawa Shizuki followed suit, growing similar black claws and fangs to move quickly, and followed closely behind.

Just seconds before the entrance to the Shadow Realm closed, the two managed to sense it in time and squeeze through the narrow gap, intending to directly storm into the heart of the Heikyo Shindaikai.

The moment Kurosawa Shizuki entered the cave, all she felt was an overwhelming sense of weightlessness, chaos, and disorientation. The cave didn't lead to the massive, complex cult base or villainous labyrinth she had imagined; instead, it was a bottomless abyss leading downwards. Even within the shadow realm, Kurosawa Shizuki and Asakura Yuki were dragged down by an unparalleled gravitational force, endlessly falling…

The constant murmur of a young girl's singing could be heard, so soft and delicate that it could make one feel drowsy and disoriented if one wasn't careful.

Kurosawa Shizuki felt that countless tiny insects, invisible to the naked eye, were flying all around her, buzzing incessantly and causing a terrible headache. Upon closer inspection, she discovered that the cave walls around her were covered with thousands upon thousands of cockroach-like black insects, enough to trigger trypophobia in just one glance.

Kurosawa Shizuki felt that she and Asakura had fallen at least a hundred meters, but they still couldn't see the bottom. Was there really such a big space below the molting club, or were they traveling to another world?

“Something’s not right, something’s very wrong,” a mental fluctuation from Asakura echoed in the glare behind Asakura’s head. “The scale of the forest territory seems to be far larger than I imagined. It’s almost a super-large-scale false history independent of reality.”

"What do you mean? You're only saying something's wrong now? We can't go back now..." Kurosawa Shizuki felt that she and Asakura were probably too arrogant and should have made more thorough preparations before exploring the forest.

"Don't be surprised if you see anything over there. It wouldn't be surprising if a forest of this size formed another country or even an entire civilization." Asakura looked down at the seemingly endless abyss below and gave a wry smile.

Kurosawa Shizuki didn't know how long she had been falling, so long that she could hardly keep track of time anymore. When she was bored, she could only chat with Asakura through the black material, saying one sentence at a time. It seemed that no situation could make Asakura despair. Even in this situation, Asakura could still talk nonsense without a care in the world.

Whatever awaits them below, with her and Asakura, both fourth-tier beings, facing it together, there shouldn't be any major problems. Even if they do encounter the true form of Muko, they are not without the power to fight back. Moreover, according to Asakura, Muko is basically unwilling to engage in direct combat and expend her precious divine power before completely devouring all the chosen ones.

From the depths of darkness, a dark red band of light swayed like the aurora borealis. The scenery on both sides changed repeatedly, and even spacetime was distorted. Everything was deformed and distorted. Kurosawa Shizuki watched as her and Asakura's bodies were magnified, shrunk, and deformed in various ways in her field of vision under the distortion of spacetime, but her body did not feel anything unusual.

The eerie singing grew clearer and clearer, and as time went on, Kurosawa Shizuki was even able to vaguely understand some of the meaning behind the song:

"...I wish I would never wake up..."

"...Dreams are the bulwark protecting purity..."

"...In the dark woods, all things will find tranquility..."

"We're almost there, get ready!" Asakura finally sent out this mental message through his black matter, his voice still calm and composed.

The space below suddenly opened up, as if they had traveled through time and space. Kurosawa Shizuki and Asakura fell into another completely unfamiliar world!

Upon falling into this other world, they were instantly removed from their Shadow Domain state and reverted to their original forms. This wasn't of their own volition, but rather because, seemingly due to the rules of this world, neither Kurosawa Shizuki nor Asakura, using their Black Matter powers, could perceive the Shadow Domain! Kurosawa Shizuki couldn't even sense the Shadow Servants within it! Even the Shadow Servants were left behind in the mortal realm; the rules of this world didn't recognize their existence!

With Kurosawa Shizuki and Asakura Yuki entered this world, there were only a huge amount of black matter and glare. Kurosawa Shizuki even felt that the black matter had undergone some kind of change in this world, seemingly more active and more difficult to control than before. The black matter seemed to be restless due to some kind of influence existing in this world.

Kurosawa Shizuki traversed the Serpent Path created by the Shindai-kai and looked down upon the kingdom of Mizusenko. Neither Kurosawa Shizuki nor Asakura Yuki had expected that the so-called forest territory would expand to such a scale.

Plunging straight down from hundreds of meters in the air, Kurosawa Shizuki saw an endless black primeval forest below. Towering ancient trees, their age unknown, stood silently like solemn giants, guarding an eternal secret... Besides the endless trees, Kurosawa Shizuki could also see crimson rivers, like the blood vessels of the earth, flowing through the forest. Occasionally, she could see the ruins of ancient buildings, their age impossible to trace, hidden in the dense woods. Above the forest, countless winged creatures with fluorescent glows on their backs gracefully stretched their bodies and soared freely upwards.

The first purple winged creature to enter the woodland had already integrated into the large group amidst the friendly cheers of its companions. Countless smaller winged creatures danced around it in the air, as if paying homage to the higher being.

The sky was shrouded in darkness from which no sunlight would ever be seen. The color of the dome was a blood-red hue. Kurosawa Shizuki could see that deep within the dark clouds of the sky, countless enormous gears of various colors, mostly rusted, were hidden. The gaps between the gears meshed together, as if they were the incredibly complex parts inside a machine. Some enormous force was driving this world to keep turning without stopping.

At the very center of this forest, a metal temple hangs high in the sky like a miracle. It is the core of a structure made of countless gears, shimmering with an incomparably dazzling dark golden light, like an inextinguishable star.

The song that echoed throughout the woods originated from that temple.

Kurosawa Shizuki stared in fascination at the incredibly uniquely constructed metal temple. Its cylindrical shape, along with the twisting of the springs, caused the layers of ring structures to rotate endlessly. At the very top of the temple, a bronze statue of a girl in a ballet dress was also rotating along with the statue.

Kurosawa Shizuki felt that the shape of the metal temple was very familiar. She was sure that she had seen this temple somewhere before. As she fell from the sky, she kept thinking about the origin of the metal temple.

"What are you still spacing out for? Do you want to be smashed into a pulp?" From behind, Asakura's left hand wrapped around Kurosawa Shizuki's waist. Behind Asakura, glare condensed into broad, pale golden wings, carrying Kurosawa Shizuki as she glided downwards, preventing her from being smashed into a pile of minced meat by gravity. If they fell and smashed like that, it would be very troublesome to rebuild their bodies.

"I remember now!" Kurosawa Shizuki, who was almost mesmerized, finally came to her senses and pointed to the dark golden cylindrical temple, which was clearly the core of the entire forest domain: "I know what that is!"

"What exactly is that thing?" Asakura asked Kurosawa Shizuki with a look of surprise.

“That’s a music box! A music box that’s always spinning and humming the Woodland Song!” Even Shizuki Kurosawa herself found this conclusion absurd.

With just a little imagination, it's easy to see that the metal temple above the forest, which serves as the central hub of the entire domain, is actually just a music box magnified countless times. It's hard to imagine how many tons of alloy it would take to cast such a giant "music box," and even whether it was cast by human hands is something Kurosawa Shizuki isn't entirely sure about.

What drives the entire forest, constantly broadcasts music, and is guarded by countless winged creatures is a gigantic golden music box? What does this mean? What is the significance of the Music Box Temple within this forest?

P.S., thanks to Historia for the dog food (a gift of affection), to Zhengzhi de Shinozaki Sachiko for 15 spicy strips, and to Zixuan Miao for 15 razor blades. What's going on lately? Everyone's coming at once!

PS2, the story will take a very strange turn from here on out. I'm finally writing something I'm most familiar with again.

Chapter 99, Section 99: The Great Escape from the Woodlands

Both Kurosawa Shizuki and Asakura Yuki were genuinely shocked by the bizarre scene before them. The fact that such a vast "domain" was hidden beneath the molting club was astonishing.

"My goodness, this is almost a complete world than a domain. It has its own independent laws in operation and supports such a large number of familiars..." Even the well-informed Asakura expressed his sincere amazement at the scene before him.

"If all these winged creatures were released outside, what a terrible catastrophe it would cause!" Kurosawa Shizuki could no longer find the winged creature that had been formed from the fusion of male and female dancers in the molting club. Winged creatures were everywhere, like sand scattered across the sky. It was impossible to count whether there were thousands or tens of thousands of them. With just a glance, Kurosawa Shizuki could see several winged creatures that posed a threat to her no less than the previous one.

“Fortunately, most of the winged creatures here are only conceptual beings. Mist Spring doesn’t have enough power to project them into reality yet, so they can only hide in the domain to protect themselves temporarily,” Asakura Yuki frowned. “We must destroy this domain, otherwise, before Mist Spring arrives, once this forest domain is completely integrated with reality, we will have no chance of winning.”

Kurosawa Shizuki felt that the winged creatures here were very similar to the creatures she had seen in Tamakami Park that had been hatched by the Chosen One. Could it be that the Chosen One was continuously summoning Mizuki's Familia from here to enter the human world?

Kurosawa Shizuki somewhat understood what terrifying things the Generation of Gods was doing—forcibly transforming and "metamorphosing" almost all believers, followers, and those who had taken the Bond Pill from the outside world, then introducing the conceptualized forms of the newly born winged creatures into the forest domain to grow, and finally injecting the concept of winged creatures into their bodies through the scarlet strange tree transformed by the chosen ones, so that they could manifest in the world. If this "industrial chain" continued to operate, it would probably not be long before the entire Heijing was submerged by endless winged creatures.

"Instead of thinking about destroying this area...shouldn't we be thinking about running away first?" While Kurosawa Shizuki and the others were observing the winged creatures, all the winged creatures blinked their curious big eyes at the two "two-legged beasts" that had fallen from the sky. Kurosawa Shizuki was certain that they were definitely a delicious meal among these winged creatures.

Employing a cacophony of shrill cries, they flapped their graceful, gauze-like wings, shaking off their scales. Countless pairs of long, black claws gleamed with a cold light as they converged on Kurosawa Shizuki and Asakura, like a dark cloud blotting out the sky. The sight alone was enough to send chills down one's spine. Although most winged creatures simply lacked the concept of a physical body, they could still unleash almost their full power within the rules of this realm. Neither Kurosawa Shizuki nor Asakura had any intention of confronting them head-on. As the saying goes, "Many ants can kill an elephant," and with such a number of enemies, even an immortal would likely be overwhelmed.

“It’s everywhere… We can only go down, we have to hide in the forest!” Asakura looked around and made a decision without hesitation. He flapped the black wings on his back and, with Kurosawa Shizuki in tow, launched a rapid dive into the dense dark forest below.

However, the brief blank area below was almost instantly covered by an endless array of winged creatures, forming an impenetrable black wall. Asakura and Kurosawa Shizuki had no choice but to charge towards this black wall.